what to search for?

[ikthius]

Hey everyone.

I am looking for information about setting up a business....... wow something I never thought I would say.

but I am looking more for things like.
1: do I have to have a unique name for the business?
2: what if someone has what I want as a name for my business?
3: where can I find a list of business names you can't use?
4: where can you check for business logos to not use?
5: do I have to register my business name and logo?

these are the kind of things I am looking at just now, but I cant for the life of me think of how to find these on the net.

ik

edit: was not sure where to put this, as I am trying to search for info on the net, i thought it appropriate here.

can any of you guys help?

[Halcyon]

Sorry, I can't help you but these sites seem to cover a few topics:

http://www.bytestart.co.uk/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/start_.../company.shtml

http://www.startups.co.uk/6678842909...ade-marks.html

http://www.global-money.com/item.php?id=183

[joglynne]

You could also have a look here and get some ideas on what names you could use.

The site also has quite a bit of information you may find useful starting from here.

[ikthius]

cheers guys, I have a name in mind.

i was going to stick with ikthius, but decided against it. got something else in mind though.

having gone through a few of the links, I have seen some nearly the same but not exact, and lots have the same first part.... e.g.
ikthius software
ikthius solutions
ikthius animations

all different but similar if you catch my drift..... so the one I am looking at is not on the register

ik

[frogstamper]

Originally Posted by ikthius

Hey everyone.

I am looking for information about setting up a business....... wow something I never thought I would say.

but I am looking more for things like.
1: do I have to have a unique name for the business?
2: what if someone has what I want as a name for my business?
3: where can I find a list of business names you can't use?
4: where can you check for business logos to not use?
5: do I have to register my business name and logo?

these are the kind of things I am looking at just now, but I cant for the life of me think of how to find these on the net.

ik

edit: was not sure where to put this, as I am trying to search for info on the net, i thought it appropriate here.

can any of you guys help?

A lot of the questions you are asking here can be answered by "Companies House" eg : what names are available, what names are not. Good luck


http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/

[joglynne]

I like the 'ikthius solutions'. It allows a wide area of activities and could be used to umbrella both software and animations etc in the future.

I have seen a fair number of start up names which were too restictive and didn't give room for any change in direction once the business was up and running.

[AntiSilence]

Originally Posted by ikthius

Hey everyone.

I am looking for information about setting up a business....... wow something I never thought I would say.

but I am looking more for things like.
1: do I have to have a unique name for the business?
2: what if someone has what I want as a name for my business?
3: where can I find a list of business names you can't use?
4: where can you check for business logos to not use?
5: do I have to register my business name and logo?

these are the kind of things I am looking at just now, but I cant for the life of me think of how to find these on the net.

ik

edit: was not sure where to put this, as I am trying to search for info on the net, i thought it appropriate here.

can any of you guys help?

Are you planning on a BUSINESS or a COMPANY? A business doesn't have to register with Companies House, but if you're going Limited (usually need 2 directors, one can be the company secretary) you need to register and have an accountant.

As for names, just do some Google searches for similar ones. As a business, you can use any name you like, really, but if you go Limited, any of the other companies in the register can choose to object to your name if it's too similar to theirs.

As for registering business logos, no, you don't HAVE to register it as a design. You can, legally, use the TM mark to demonstrate that you're using the design as a trademark, although it's not registered. You can't legally use the ® symbol after the design if you haven't registered the design.

Again, if you do register a design, it gets entered into a register, and everyone in the register has a right to object to your design if it's similar to theirs.

[ikthius]

cheers everyone.

well yesterday I was thinking of using the ikthius and doing just web design, but if I stick to ikthius i will go with solutions to expand.

however i got the idea of a few logos, in fact my ideas have now grown and so has my buisness name (honeycomb) although I dont seem to be able to get the exact with that register:
honeycomb designs
honeycomb web
honeycomb web design

although I have been at the links for a while and because I will be doing this as a sole trader I don't have to register anything, just dont use one off the companies house register.

ik

[AntiSilence]

Nice one. You can have a similar one to any on the Companies House register in the same sector, but it should also be ok if you use a name that is already registered that's used in another sector (ie, Honeycomb in computers and Honeycomb in, er, photography).

Good luck with it all though, and keep me up to date, having done the exact same thing

[ikthius]

Originally Posted by AntiSilence

Nice one. You can have a similar one to any on the Companies House register in the same sector, but it should also be ok if you use a name that is already registered that's used in another sector (ie, Honeycomb in computers and Honeycomb in, er, photography).

Good luck with it all though, and keep me up to date, having done the exact same thing

I will,

this will take a while though as i am an absolute beginner in all of this.

I just seen a report on BBC about some scam that goes on about someone phoning up companies saying they own the rights to their business name, pay them lots of money or get sued.

so I want to make sure this is done right and be safe and have my company name safe.

mainly doing it on my own, as a sideline to my day job..... if I dont get any clients I dont make money, I will do it all from home, so no major outlay, just maybe get a better computer with newer software then I should be good to go.

ik

[ikthius]

well to update you guys on this

I got my site up and running and I got some business cards made up.

the site is www.honeycomb-web.co.uk

remember this is still just a sideline business and when I get my first real paying customer, then I will get everything else done like VAT, and all that.

I never went down the companies house route.

I am playing around with a php contact script that webcrawler posted, but it does not work, playing about with it to see what i can do

ik

[Druchii]

Could you maybe add a gradient back to black for the edges of the site? For people with resolutions above 1280x1024 ? It absolutely kills my eyes at 1600x1200. See attached.

[homealone]

looking good, ik, 'clean' design & the links are slick

[ikthius]

Originally Posted by Druchii

Could you maybe add a gradient back to black for the edges of the site? For people with resolutions above 1280x1024 ? It absolutely kills my eyes at 1600x1200. See attached.

will do that soon dude

ik

p.s. thanks Gaz

[Druchii]

Originally Posted by ikthius

will do that soon dude

ik

p.s. thanks Gaz

Cool, other than that, same as Gaz's comments. Looking good, and i hope it takes off for you